See Starbucks' straw-free lid

Starbucks announced that it will phase out plastic straws from all of its stores by 2020. Instead, it will offer a cup with a raised lid you can drink from or eco-friendly paper straws.

Posted: Jul 10, 2018 6:53 AM

Updated: Jul 10, 2018 7:09 AM

Posted By: CNN Wire

Will universal basic income work in the US? Stockton, California -- which will soon start giving some residents $500 a month for 18 months -- is about to find out. Here's what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door. (You can also get "5 Things You Need to Know Today" delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.)

1. Supreme Court

Now that President Donald Trump has nominated Brett Kavanaugh for a seat on the Supreme Court, a political battle royal has already begun in Washington. The stakes couldn't be higher: Kavanaugh is a young conservative who, if he's confirmed, could create a reliable five-vote conservative bloc on the court that could push it rightward for decades. Liberals promise a fight for the ages to block the nomination.

As for where he stands on the hot-button issues, conservatives generally like how Kavanaugh has ruled in cases involving religious liberty, the Second Amendment and abortion, although he hasn't expressed outright opposition to Roe v. Wade. Kavanaugh has also said that presidents should be shielded from litigation while in office, with some observers speculating that's one of the reasons why Trump -- embroiled in the Russia investigation -- picked him.

Others point out that confirming Kavanaugh wouldn't do much for diversity on the high court. There have been 113 Supreme Court justices, and all but six have been white men.

2. Thailand cave rescue

Divers pulled three more boys out of a flooded cave in northern Thailand today, a person who is part of the rescue operations tells CNN. That leaves one boy and the coach inside the cave. Officials said they hope to get them all out today. Eight boys were freed from the cave during rescue operations on Sunday and Monday. They're recovering in a hospital and said to be healthy. A doctor and three Royal Thai Navy SEALs -- who had been helping the boys since they were found last week -- are expected to leave the cave as well. Today's rescue operation is expected to take longer to pull off than the other days because of the large number of people involved.

3. Separated families

Today's the deadline for the Trump administration to reunite immigrant children under 5 with their families. But the government says it will only have reunited just over half of them in this group. That's just part of the thousands of young immigrants still in custody apart from their parents, detained under the administration's "zero tolerance" policy on the southern border with Mexico.

Meanwhile, a federal judge rejected the Justice Department's request to change decades-old rules on how long the government can detain immigrant children. US District Judge Dolly Gee called the request -- which sought to change a rule that prevents immigrant children from being held in detention longer than 20 days -- "wholly without merit."

4. Brexit

It's been a minute since we talked about Brexit, but rifts over British Prime Minister Theresa May's strategy for getting the UK out of the European Union has plunged her government into chaos. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson quit, saying in his resignation letter that the Brexit "dream is dying, suffocated by needless self-doubt." This move comes right after two other government ministers who deal with Brexit quit. Just days ago it seemed like May had a deal with her Cabinet on what the UK's post-Brexit relationship with the EU would look like. That plan is in tatters, and May's political future is in doubt.

5. Plastic straws

If it feels like it's getting harder to get your hands on a plastic straw to drink with at restaurants, it's not your imagination. Some governments have started banning them because they contribute to ocean pollution and pose a threat to marine life. In the United States some companies are voluntarily dumping them. Starbucks is the latest to go strawless. The coffee company says it will phase out plastic straws by 2020. That will eliminate more than 1 billion plastic straws per year. Hyatt and McDonald's are among the companies that have said they'll also stop using straws.

HAPPENING LATER

Neighborhood brawlIt'll be neighbor vs. neighbor today when France and Belgium meet up in St. Petersburg, Russia, in a World Cup semifinal.